Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to information handling systems and, more particularly, to a multi-phase voltage regulator for an information handling system.
Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and/or software components that may be configured to process, store, and/or communicate information. Information handling systems may also include one or more multi-phase voltage regulators to ensure that necessary electrical power is consistently supplied to one or more devices in the information handling system. Typical multi-phase voltage regulators may include a voltage regulator controller and multiple power stages, each power stage may include a power metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect-transistor (MOSFET) switch having a high side MOSFET switch and a low side MOSFET switch and high frequency MOSFET gate drivers for switching the high side and low side MOSFET switches ON and OFF. These power MOSFET switches, however, may produce large voltage spikes at the load which are caused by high frequency output current di/dt during MOSFET switching events. To mitigate the impact of these voltage spikes and enable faster switching, traditional power MOSFET switch designs may use high frequency MOSFET gate drivers with fixed driving capabilities at worst case load range of the power MOSFET switch. Nevertheless, the efficiency of both the multi-phase voltage regulator and the system may be limited for the remaining load ranges of the power MOSFET switch, which may be the majority of the loading conditions.